Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation supervisor earns national honor

Rob Wagner, a supervisor with the Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation Department, has been named Special Olympics North America 2013 Coach of the Year.

Wagner, special populations program supervisor with the Cedar Rapids department, was picked from 120,000 Special Olympics coaches across North America. The award was made this week at Winter Special Olympics banquet in Dubuque.

This is the first year the organization named two coaches of the year. Jennifer Walsh of Massachusetts joined Wagner with the distinction.

Wagner has worked for the Parks and Recreation Department coordinating Special Olympics programs for 23 years and has been involved in coaching Special Olympics for over 30 years.

"Rob is very deserving of this award. He has touched the lives of hundreds of people in our community through Special Olympics," said Sven Leff, director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department.